OK Nevada here's your chance

Tonight's debate among Democratic presidential hopefuls at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus is a good chance for Nevadans to see how the candidates stack up against each other on Nevada issues.

Though it is in Las Vegas, Northern Nevadans can watch the two-hour debate on CNN beginning at 5 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are slated to participate.

For the first hour, a panel made up of CNN's Campbell Brown, Suzanne Malveaux and John Roberts will ask questions followed by questions from voters during the second hour.

That the audience members allowed to ask the questions were vetted in advance grates on our free-speech, open-government, truth-in-campaigning nerves. It is what we're going to get. It's not the best chance for voters to see how the candidates differ, but it's a debate. And it's in Nevada.

In the end it's better than choosing a leader completely in the dark. It's one more chance to measure the candidates in our backyard, a yard that is not typically in the national spotlight for politics. The debate's on CNN.

It's one more chance for Democrats and Republicans to arm themselves before the Jan. 19 caucuses.

Tune in Nevadans. Don't miss your chance.